Drive Guide Symbols
These symbols tell you a lot about a story. Look for them.
Sports
Good route for sports cars, with mostly good pavement. Might also include an optional dirt stretch that doesn’t necessarily require an SUV. These are generally fun roads for everybody. They're also friendly to motorcycle tourers.
Dirt Time
The drive includes dirt roads… a chance to utilize that high clearance and, if you have it, all-wheel or four-wheel drive. Might be boring for you rock-crawlers, but watch out if you've never driven on a trail.
Backyard
It’s a drive in your own backyard; if you want to be considered a local, you’ll need to know this road. Take whatever vehicle you like.
Video Trip
Look for this
symbol for video features on the Weekend Driver web site.
Weekend Driver GPS Tours
Something new... Weekend Driver GPS tours. Using the Geovative Solutions Geotours and Trimble Outdoors web sites, Jack has taken popular 
Weekend Driver tours and set up guided tours for GPS devices. Download them to your GPS device and you'll be guided along the route, turn by turn, with interesting tidbits popping up along the way.
Even if you don't have a GPS device that can take uploads, the tours provide a map, turn-by-turn directions and mileage; just click and print.
This is new technology, so after you take the drive, please drop Jack an e-mail with your impressions.
Look for this symbol 
for GPS-enabled drives.
Still Clunky
The world of GPS tours still tends to be a bit clunky. All the tools seem to be there, but it sometimes takes a bit of work to get things working.
For example, the Geovative tours aren’t directional, so it finds whatever point is closest to where you are and puts you there. With my Garmin Nuvi 750, I have to upload the GPI file, then go in and create the route. I’ve experimented with audio clips -- a self-driven guided tour -- on one route. Give it a try if you can. The rest of the routes seem to work pretty well and upload is easy through the Garmin POI loader.
Trimble’s site puts out GPX files, but I haven't been able to get them to work. But, if you’re savvy and can upload them, or have the Trimble service on your cell phone, check out these drives.
Good luck and let me know your expeirences.
Sample GPS Tours
Here are the drives currently available.
- Canyon Sin Nombre: Drive off-road in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park through a canyon with no name. GO>
- South Bay Beach Cruise: Drive through the Tijuana River Estuary, Silver Strand, Coronado and Downtown San Diego. GO>
- Doing De Luz: The road from Temecula to Fallbrook winds through the avocado-groved mountains. Let your portable GPS unit be your guide. GO>
- Lost Valley Road/Lake Henshaw: A loop through the Warner Springs and Lake Henshaw area, including a few miles of challenging dirt roads. GO>
- Old Highway 101: Drive the spectacular old coast highway from Oceanside to Torrey Pines. Why southbound? Because you're driving on the ocean side of the road for a better view. GO>
- Old Highway 80: Take a road trip into the past from Descanso to Pine Valley.
- Text format (GPS covers only the eastern section). GO>
- Bullitt Hills: Take a wild ride up and down through some of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods. GO>.
- Rim of the World Drift: A loop from San Bernardino to Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. GO>
- High on Highland: Take a wild ride up and over the mountains to Ramona, an old castle and a winery. GO>
- High on Highland column. GO>
- Grape Trip: Rocky road up Grapevine Canyon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. GO>
- Grapevine Canyon column. GO>
These are tests, so please e-mail Jack and let him know how your drive went.
See you on the road! 
